Nice numbers for Conan opener in DFW ratings

by Ed Bark of of UncleBarky.com

Ed Bark

Conan O'Brien's first Tonight Show ranked as NBC5's most-watched program Monday, but fell short of Jay Leno's Friday night swan song.

O'Brien's maiden Tonight, with guests Will Ferrell and Pearl Jam, drew 205,933 D-FW viewers in easily besting CBS' new episode of Late Show With David Letterman (73,073 viewers). Tonight also ruled among advertiser-coveted 18-to-49-year-olds, amassing 110,201 viewers in this age range to decimate Late Show's 32,412.

Leno's goodbye had 305,578 total viewers, with 142,613 of them in the 18-to-49 demographic.

NBC also premiered its sub-cheesy I'm A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out of Here, which filled the 7 to 9 p.m. slot and lured 159,432 total viewers. That tied it for second place overall with ABC's The Bachelorette. Three of CBS' four sitcom reruns -- The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men and Rules of Engagement -- won their half-hours while the network's How I Met Your Mother ran third from 7:30 to 8 p.m.

I'm A Celebrity -- the definition seldom has been used more loosely -- moved up to second place overall among 18-to-49-year-olds.

At 9 p.m., the last new episode of Medium on NBC ran fourth in both ratings measurements, drawing 132,860 total viewers. A repeat of CBS' CSI: Miami easily won the hour with 285,649 viewers.

In Monday's local news derby, WFAA8 narrowly won at 10 p.m. in both total viewers and 25-to-54-year-olds, the main advertiser target audience for news programming. The respective second place finishers were CBS11 and NBC5.

The Peacock again dominated the 6 a.m. numbers, where it handily won the May sweeps and continues to coast. The 7 to 9 a.m. portion of Fox4's Good Day then recovered as usual to beat all three network morning shows.

NBC5 also had a big day in the 5 and 6 p.m. Nielsens, winning across the board.

WFAA8, no longer a powerhouse at these hours, tied for third with CBS11 at 5 p.m. in both measurements. WFAA8 also had a bronze at 6 p.m. in total viewers while running an out-of-the-money fourth among 25-to-54-year-olds.